Some states recast sex ed

Abstinence-only falling out of favor

WASHINGTON -- While eighth-graders in North Clackamas, Ore., are learning the correct way to put on condoms, some of their counterparts in New Hanover County, N.C., are using books that say, "There is not a lot of proof that condoms really work. Would you trust your life to one?"

State and district officials are dealing with a variation of that question. With the April release of a congressionally authorized study showing that kids who took abstinence-only classes were just as likely to have premarital sex as those who weren't in the classes, states are asking: Should we entrust our students to abstinence-only programs?

For a rising number of states, the answer is no. While a majority still require that abstinence be stressed in sex education, lately there has been a movement toward comprehensive education that teaches about contraception along with abstinence. This shift has been bolstered by Democratic gains in statehouses and Congress.

The debate over sex education has been long-running and passionate. Those who favor abstinence-only classes say comprehensive programs send mixed messages to teenagers. But advocates of comprehensive courses say abstinence-only programs don't give teens the facts they need to make informed choices.

So far this year, three states -- Colorado, Iowa and Washington -- have enacted laws requiring schools that teach sex education to ensure the information is "medically accurate" or "science-based" -- suggesting a comprehensive program.

In Minnesota, an education budget bill with a similar requirement is on the governor's desk. The Kansas Board of Education in April issued new guidelines that favor comprehensive sex education, and a bill pending in New York would fund such programs.

Those are significant victories for comprehensive sex-education advocates, considering that, before this year, only one state, Maine, had enacted a similar law since 2000. Currently, there are six states with a strong definition of "medical accuracy" written into their sex-education laws, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, which opposes abstinence-only programs. The states are California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Missouri and Washington.

"Saner heads are prevailing," said Bill Smith, vice president of public policy for the council. "I think these extreme programs have reached their extreme limit."

State action also could hasten the demise of an 11-year-old federal program that gives grants to states that match 75 percent of the federal money and use the funds solely to teach abstinence-only sex education.

This month, congressional Democratic leaders said they would not extend the program, which is up for reauthorization this year.

The April study, which tracked 2,000 children, half of whom took abstinence-only classes, found that students in those classes were just as likely as their peers to have premarital sex. But the study also reported that teenagers in the abstinence classes weren't less likely to use condoms, something critics of abstinence-only programs have claimed would happen.

According to Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association, most people think comprehensive classes emphasize abstinence while including information about contraception. But in reality, Huber said, in such classes, "the greatest focus certainly isn't on abstinence, it's on promoting contraception."

Abstinence-only proponents scored their own legislative victory this year: Missouri, which currently requires that comprehensive information be taught, is expected to roll that back with a bill the General Assembly sent to Republican Gov. Matt Blunt that would let districts decide what kind of program to offer. The bill also would ban instructors from groups that provide or refer people to abortion services from teaching in public schools, meaning that educators from family planning organizations such as Planned Parenthood would be disqualified.